WEST PLAINS, Mo. -- The Poplar Bluff softball team enters the postseason having lost consecutive games following a 5-2 setback at West Plains on Monday.
"We're not playing our sharpest," Mules coach Lisa Boyer said.
Poplar Bluff (21-7) didn't have an RBI and left nine runners stranded against the Zizzers (23-4).
"We didn't get the timely hit," Boyer said.
Lauren Alexander, Audrey Lack and Shelby Sievers each doubled for the Mules while Calli Gerber's grounder was misplayed with the bases loaded to account for both of Poplar Bluff's runs.
Adrienne Stucker allowed three earned runs on three hits and two walks in three-plus innings. The senior struck out four but suffered her second straight loss after winning 11 games for a second straight season.
West Plains, the top seed in the upcoming MSHSAA Class 3 District 11 tournament, scored first in the second inning following a leadoff walk, a stolen base and a pair of bunts. After the Mules pulled ahead in the third, the Zizzers answered with a two-out walk before consecutive doubles for a 3-2 lead.
The Mules got two-out doubles in the first two innings by Sievers and Alexander but were left stranded. In the third, Abby Gregory led off with a single while Brylee Misner walked and Stucker was hit by a pitch loaded the bases. Gerber's grounder was misplayed by the second baseman, allowing two runs to score before a flyout ended the inning.
"Their pitcher hit spots," Boyer said. "I thought they did a good job outside the one error."
Trailing 4-2 in the sixth, Lack doubled with one out but following a pitching change, West Plains got out of the inning with a line out to right field and one of five strikeouts by the Mules.
Emma Johnson had a one-out single in the seventh before Misner's two-out hit put runners at the corners but a strikeout ended the game.
"As a coach you hope to get your kids where they need to be at the end of the season as far as motivation," Boyer said. "I take responsibility for that."
The Mules will play at Seckman in the MSHSAA Class 4 District 1 semifinal at 4:15 p.m. Thursday. Poplar Bluff, the second seed, will be the home team while the other semifinal, featuring top-seeded Oakville, will be played at Fox. The winners will meet at 4:15 p.m. Friday at Fox.
Seckman (13-10) is coming off a 7-1 win over Jackson on Thursday. The third-seeded Jaguars are averaging 6.2 runs per game and hitting .318 as a team.
"They can hit one through nine," Boyer said. "They're good."
Seckman, the defending district champion, reached the state quarterfinals last year before losing in extra innings to Washington.
Poplar Bluff last won a district title in 2005 and reached the final two years ago before losing to Hillsboro. Last year the Mules lost 3-2 to Oakville in the semifinal.
Poplar Bluff's junior varsity team finished the season 4-7-1 following a 0-0 tie at West Plains on Monday.